Products of various manufacturers are often provided with labels designating that the product has the seal of approval of some organization or trade group as a selling tool indicating quality of the product. In such cases, the designated body or trade group approving of the product will have in fact reviewed and/or tested the product to determine its acceptability and may include provision for continual monitoring of the quality of the product as a condition for maintenance of its approval.
In any event, it is conventional that such body or trade group charge the manufacturer a royalty or service charge for each unit bearing the approved label as one means of obtaining compensation for its services and/or endorsement of the product. Not infrequently, unscrupulous manufacturers will attempt to circumvent the per unit service charge or royalty requirement by printing up counterfeit labels for their product, in lieu of or in addition to legitimate labels. For example, the body or trade group to receive the royalty may be aware that one million labels have been printed and is paid a royalty on the basis of one million units. However, if the unscrupulous manufacturer has had an additional one million, counterfeit labels printed and applied to products, it will be apparent that the body or trade organization will not be receiving the royalty to which it is entitled for the second million units sold.
To try and minimize the problem, the approving body or trade groups frequently employ inspectors that may check, for example, the manufacturer's inventory of a particular product. All too often, it is difficult to make a meaningful check of inventory because a particular label on the product being inspected cannot be readily correlated with the information utilized by the body or trade organization for determining the royalty due it. Such information may, for example, include so-called "issue numbers", label quantities, label order dates, the identity of the vendor of the labels, identity of client, year of manufacture, etc. or the like.
The present invention therefore, seeks to provide a label that is resistant to counterfeiting and which may be read by qualified personnel in such a way as to provide such personnel with ready access to pertinent information that they may require in the proper performance of their duties.